CABINET HOME
BACKBONE HOME
Help make the Progressive Cabinet
a reality
|
Join our Mailing List
Click Here
Sponsors
The Backbone Campaign
Progressive Government Institute
Progressive Democrats of America
WeCount.org
Utah Democratic Progressive Caucus
Democrats.com
Texas Progressive Populist Caucus
Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club
Progress Now
Grassroots for America
Reclaim the Media
Cities for Peace
Global Exchange
Code Pink
Back to Backbone Home
|
|
Position:
Secretary - Commerce
The secretary is responsible for the smooth running of the Commerce Department, which works on a wide range of activities that contribute to the continued growth of the nation?s economy. He or she is responsible for gathering and developing economic and demographic data for business and government decision-making, helping American firms and consumers benefit from open and fair international trade, issuing patents and trademarks, helping set industrial standards and conducting scientific research, forecasting the weather to improve public safety, and promoting sustainable stewardship of the oceans, including ocean fisheries. The Commerce Department has three strategic goals: Furnish the information and economic framework to enable the U.S. economy to grow, both nationally and globally, provide infrastructure for innovation to enhance American competitiveness, and observe and manage oceanic and atmospheric resources to help ensure sustainable economic opportunities.
Type of Appointment/Position: Presidential with Senate confirmation
Nominee's Background:
Formerly on the faculty of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Served as an assistant to the Solicitor General in the Ford Administration; on policy planning staff of the Federal Trade Commission in the Carter Administration. Written seven books and more than 200 articles on the global economy and the U.S. workforce. Appointed Secretary of Labor by Bill Clinton. Major issues/accomplishments included the School-to-Work Opportunities Act; skill standards which certify that workers have the skills that employers need; funds for one-stop career centers, linking unemployment insurance, job counseling, and access to job training; and enactment of the Retirement Protection Act. Stressed protection of workers with crackdowns on sweatshops, on unsafe worksites, and on fraudulent purveyors of health insurance. He has written ten books, including The Work of Nations, which has been translated into 22 languages; the best-sellers The Future of Success and Locked in the Cabinet; and his most recent book, Reason. His articles have appeared in The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. Mr. Reich is co-founder and national editor of The American Prospect magazine. His commentaries can be heard weekly on public radios "Marketplace."
Nominating Speech:
In 2003, Reich was awarded the prestigious Vaclav Havel Vision Foundation Prize, by the former Czech president, for his pioneering work in economic and social thought. In 2002, Reich ran for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Massachusetts. As the nations 22nd Secretary of Labor, Reich presided over the implementation of the Family and Medical Leave Act; led a national fight against sweatshops in the U.S. and illegal child labor around the world; headed the administrations successful effort to raise the minimum wage; secured workers pensions, and launched job-training programs, one-stop career centers, and school-to-work initiatives. Under his leadership, the Department of Labor earned more than 30 awards for innovation and government reinvention. A 1996 poll of cabinet experts conducted by the Hearst newspapers rated him the most effective cabinet secretary during the Clinton administration. Before taking office, Reich was a member of the faculty of Harvards John F. Kennedy School of Government. He received his B.A. from Dartmouth College, his M.A. from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and his J.D. from Yale Law School. Since 1981, he has lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his wife, Clare Dalton. They have two children, Adam and Sam
Nominated by: Ronald L. Nelson
To research this nominee, please look for them on the
Wikipedia website or at
Google.
|
Progressive Criteria:
The Department of Commerce will:
Promote commerce to enhance citizens' lives, not simply to enrich investors;
Promote decent, well-paying, environmentally sustainable jobs;
Take the initiative in developing a Genuine Progress Indicator to replace GDP which does not adequately distinguish between good growth and destructive trends; Work to provide new guarantees for pension security;
Support very small businesses, minority and women-owned businesses;
Direct and manage the patent and trademark system to promote the common good by promoting valuable inventions, research and intellectual exchangee, as a higher priority than protecting corporate profits.
|
Comments so far:
June 28, 2005
Jeanne Brooks -
He is a brillant man and very fair. An excellant candidate. Somebody you can trust.
June 28, 2005
mimi harris -
Exceedingly competent and fair minded.
In the News
-
Robert Reich: The Final Lesson of BP
The will of the American people is being subordinated to the demands of giant money-making machines called global corporations that can now spend or threaten to spend unlimited amounts of money in support of any politician.
-
Robert Reich: 3 reasons big companies arent hiring
Second-quarter earnings reports are coming in, and theyre making Wall Street smile. Corporate profits are up. And big American companies are sitting on a gigantic pile of money. The 500 largest non-financial firms held almost a trillion dollars in the second quarter, and that money pile is growing larger this quarter. Profits that plummeted in the recession have bounced back. Big businesses ...
-
With slow U.S. recovery rises new fear: stagnation
Even as Congress moves to extend jobless benefits for millions of workers, a growing body of evidence suggests the United States is heading toward an economic netherworld avoiding a slide back into recession but growing so slowly that unemployment will remain high, home prices low and incomes essentially stagnant.
-
Robert Reich: The Great Decoupling of Corporate Profits From Jobs
Big American companies won't begin to think about hiring until they know American consumers will buy their products. The problem is, American consumers won't start buying against until they know they have reliable paychecks. Higher corporate profits no longer lead to higher employment. We're witnessing a great decoupling of company profits from jobs. The next supply-side economist who tells you ...
-
Medal of Honor grove in disrepair
VALLEY FORGE A 52-acre Medal of Honor grove at the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge is in poor condition, with many of the memorials sitting amid weed-strewn lots and state markers propped against trees.
-
Why no campus protest over Berkeley-BP connection?
Given the events in the Gulf of Mexico, one would think the cozy relationship between the university and the oil giant in the form of the Energy Biosciences Institute would have set off an uproar by now. Berkeley being Berkeley and BP being BP, one would have expected the very snug relationship between the university and the corporation to have produced a major campus uproar by now.
-
House Passes Bill To Crack Down On K Street 'Scofflaws'
The House unanimously passed a bill this week to create a task force within the Justice Department to crack down on lobbyists who flake on disclosure laws.
-
OneRiot Makes Staff Changes to Prepare for the Future
OneRiot says it has made some changes that will "propel the company to the future faster." The changes they're referring to are that Kimbal Musk, formerly CEO, is now the Chairman of the company, while Tobias Peggs (formerly President in charge of Strategy, Sales, Distribution and Marketing) is now CEO. Citing, a list of accomplishments that includes the launches of OneRiot itself, its APIs, its ...
-
Layoffs, Reshuffle at OneRiot
Social search site OneRiot just announced layoffs and staff restructuring on its company blog, in a post entitled "Welcome to the future, it's coming fast." Now, being agile also necessitates making some tough decisions too, if they are the right thing for the company right now. Unfortunately, today, we have had to let a handful of well respected colleagues go. This is a pragmatic decision based ...
-
Friday round-up
Coverage continues of Senate Democrats failure to block a Republican filibuster of the DISCLOSE Act, a legislative response to Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. At ACSblog, Jeffrey D. Clements discusses the filibuster of the Act, lamenting that a minority of Senators representing a fraction of the American people killed even the modest response of [...]
News feed courtesy of Yahoo! The feed may contain extraneous material because of common names.
|
